=============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------ZOMBIES ATE MY NEIGHBORS WEAPONS GUIDE-------------------- ----------------------------------Version 1.02--------------------------------- -------------------------Created By: Josiah D. Plummer------------------------- ---------------------Copyright 2005: Josiah Daniel Plummer--------------------- ------------------Created On: Monday, July 25, 2005 [3:03 PM]------------------ -----------------Completed On: Tuesday, July 26, 2005 [7:54 AM]---------------- ------------------My E-mail Address: BanjoKazooie1988@aol.com------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =============================================================================== TRAVELING TO A TOPIC QUICKLY: If you wish to skip to a certain topic or subsection of this guide, you can use the "Find" function on your computer. Hold down the Ctrl button and press F. When the Find dialog box appears, copy and paste the name of the topic from the Table of Contents. Then click "Find Next." Do not click Match Case if it is an option. --NOTE-- This guide is for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System version of ZAMN. I do not own the Sega Genesis version, and some things regarding the weapons may be different. REVISION HISTORY: Version 1.00: First version submitted. Version 1.01: I forgot to finish the "Completed On" line. I also fixed minor typos and added a few minor details. Version 1.02: I thought of a few more ratings that would lead to an even fairer conclusion as to the best overall weapon. These were "practicality" and "closeness," and led to a change in the best overall weapon. =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =============================================================================== I. - Introduction II. - The Information III. - Water Gun IV. - Fire Extinguisher V. - Alien Bubble Gun VI. - Weed Whacker VII. - Ancient Artifact VIII. - Bazooka IX. - Soda Cans X. - Tomatoes XI. - Popsicles XII. - Dishes XIII. - Silverware XIV. - Footballs XV. - Flamethrower XVI. - Pandora's Box XVII. - "Identical" Weapons XVIII. - Weapon-Specific Unique Qualities XIX. - The Best/Worst Overall Weapon XX. - More Stuff & Conclusion =============================================================================== I. - INTRODUCTION =============================================================================== Hello, and welcome to my Zombies Ate My Neighbors Weapons Guide! I have been a longtime fan of ZAMN, and I was hopeful of creating a walkthrough for it. But I saw Hammerite Heretic's guide and figured, "There's no beating that." Good job, Heretic! Your guide is awesome! Anyway, I have always been a fan of the weapons in ZAMN. This came in handy. Hammerite Heretic's guide does not highlight the weapons, and The Big Blue's guide has brief sections for each. I decided to create a walkthrough with in-depth sections for every single weapon. I know there has got to be other people out there as obsessed with the weapons in ZAMN as I am, so hopefully this guide will be fun to read! =============================================================================== II. - THE INFORMATION =============================================================================== The following information will be listed for every weapon: DESCRIPTION: Self-explanatory BACKSTORY: Some information regarding the weapon at hand. The backstory will deal with the story of ZAMN. Most of this will be made up by me (with no harm done, of course). AMMO APPEARANCE: What the ammunition looks like. CLIP SIZE: This is the ammunition you receive by picking up a single pick-up of that weapon. MAXIMUM AMMUNITION: This is the maximum amount of ammunition you can have for the weapon at hand. USEFULNESS: This will be a rating based on a scale of 1-10. As always, the higher the number, the better. This data will give you an idea of how useful the weapon is. Usefulness here means how well the weapon at hand will get you through a situation involving any of the common enemies (this excludes bosses and semi-boss enemies; i.e., the Chainsaw Maniacs, Tonguensteins and Vampires). The information was calculated by first ignoring the enemies that the weapon at hand is useless against (in a table in spreadsheet, I listed this as "N/A"). I then averaged the number of shots it took from the weapon to kill the enemies that it CAN kill. When I got that average, I then added 1 for every N/A it had. Thus, the smaller the number, the better. I then converted this into a 1-10 scale. Please be aware that "usefulness" here also is in terms of dealing damage to monsters. Thus, weapons such as the Fire Extinguisher will have a low Useful- ness rating. DAMAGE RATING: This will be a rating on a scale of 1-10 based on actual numbers and not whimsicality. I recorded the number of shots it took for each weapon to kill every normal enemy (again, excluding bosses and semi-boss monsters). Then, I took the average number of shots it took for the weapon to kill an enemy and then converted these numbers into a 1-10 scale. This data ignores all "N/A"s; the data is based on the enemies that CAN be killed with this weapon. SPEED RATING: This will be a rating on a scale of 1-10 based on experiments. I used up 50 ammo of each weapon and recorded the time it took. Since there aren't even 50 Pandora's Boxes in the game, and since they are used as items anyway, the speed for Pandora's Boxes are listed as N/A. AMMO TO KILL [ATK]: This will be a comprehensive list of every enemy in the game (excluding bosses and semi-bosses) and how much ammo from the weapon at hand is needed to kill them. The enemies will be listed in order of the weakest to the toughest (in regards to how much ammo of the weapon at hand is needed to kill them). COMMONNESS: This is a single- or multi-word description of the weapon's common- ness. This does not have to do with the storage bins (read below). This has to do with how often the weapon is found just lying around. The ratings are as follows: Extremely Common - Very Common - Common - Uncommon - Rare - Very Rare - Rarest STORAGE ITEM PERCENTAGE: This is a percentage of your chances of obtaining the weapon at hand from a storage item (cupboards, trash cans, pyramid pots, etc.). This was calculated (very tediously) by opening hundreds of cupboards in the game and recording what weapons or other entity was obtained. I must also tell you that I used a slight trick. If you just head straight up to a storage item and open it while running you usually will get nothing. However, if you just stand in front of it and then move forward a little bit, you're chances of obtaining something useful are better. Note that some items that are not class- ified as weapons (Boogeyman, nothing, Gold Coins, Dollar Bill, Key, etc.) will be listed at the end of the guide in an all-comprehensive list of the percen- tages. TRIVIA: Any trivial facts I happen to know about the weapon at hand. =============================================================================== III. - WATER GUN =============================================================================== DESCRIPTION: A generic water pistol. It will be red if you are Zeke, and blue if you play as Julie. BACKSTORY: The Water Gun is filled with holy water, which is why it can kill Zombies with one hit (as well as other enemies) and deal damage to others. AMMO APPEARANCE: Thin strands of water. CLIP SIZE: 99 MAXIMUM AMMUNITION: 999 USEFULNESS: 6.1/10 DAMAGE RATING: 4/10 SPEED RATING: 7.8/10 ATK: Zombie: 1 Doppelganger: 1 Martian: 1 Spider: 1 Tentacle: 2 Mushroom Man: 2 Evil Doll: 4 Squidman: 4 Mummy: 5 Aflame Doll: 9 Black Ant: 10 Werewolf: 11 Red Ant: 20 Pod Plant: N/A Jelly Blob: N/A COMMONNESS: Extremely Common STORAGE ITEM PERCENTAGE: 7.5% TRIVIA: The Water Gun is crafted after an Uzi. If you've played Goldeneye 007, you can see the similarity clearly. =============================================================================== IV. - FIRE EXTINGUISHER =============================================================================== DESCRIPTION: A red fire extinguisher with a black nozzle. BACKSTORY: Apparently Zeke and Julie found some kind of special Fire Extinguish- er that actually freezes most of the monsters in the game! AMMO APPEARANCE: White puffy clouds. CLIP SIZE: 99 MAXIMUM AMMUNITION: 999 USEFULNESS: 1/10 DAMAGE RATING: 6.4/10 SPEED RATING: 9.2/10 ATK: Aflame Doll: 1 Jelly Blob: 6 Zombie: N/A Tentacle: N/A Pod Plant: N/A Evil Doll: N/A Doppelganger: N/A Mushroom Man: N/A Mummy: N/A Werewolf: N/A Martian: N/A Spider: N/A Squidman: N/A Black Ant: N/A Red Ant: N/A COMMONNESS: Rare STORAGE ITEM PERCENTAGE: 0.5% TRIVIA: What some people may not realize is that the Fire Extinguisher not only freezes enemies, it makes them weaker while frozen as well! To be more precise, when an enemy is frozen it is 50% weaker. For fun, I tested this out on the Chainsaw Maniacs in level four. It takes 152 Water Gun blasts to kill one in a regular fashion, while it only takes 76 while they are frozen. =============================================================================== V. - ALIEN BUBBLE GUN =============================================================================== DESCRIPTION: An idiosyncratic, yellow firearm with rings around the barrel. BACKSTORY: Somehow, an alien species left some of their technology on Earth! In contrast to what some believe, this weapon is NOT a Martian firearm. Read the trivia section to find out why. AMMO APPEARANCE: Red spheres. CLIP SIZE: 40 MAXIMUM AMMUNITION: 240 [give or take 40] USEFULNESS: 3.9/10 DAMAGE RATING: 10/10 SPEED RATING: 6.5/10 ATK: Tentacle: 1 Mushroom Man: 1 Spider: 1 Black Ant: 1 Red Ant: 1 Zombie: N/A Pod Plant: N/A Evil Doll: N/A Aflame Doll: N/A Doppelganger: N/A Mummy: N/A Werewolf: N/A Jelly Blob: N/A Martian: N/A Squidman: N/A COMMONNESS: Very Rare STORAGE ITEM PERCENTAGE: 0% TRIVIA: As I stated in the Backstory for this weapon, it is NOT a Martian fire- arm. Although this weapon and the weapon the Martians carry are very similar, they are not the same. Look at the ones the Martians carry. Theirs resembles a horn, while the one you carry has rings around the barrel. In addition to this, I think there are various alien species in ZAMN, though none of them are of the species that uses the Bubble Gun you carry. Why do I think this? Take a look at all the "alien" enemies in the game and how they cope with the Bubble Gun: Martian: Gets enveloped in a red sphere, as a normal enemy does; however, the guns they carry are different than the one you do; Tentacle: Dies with one hit; Mushroom Man: Dies with one hit; Doppelganger: Same as Martian; Pod Plant: Isn't affected by it. I believe the Pod Plants, Doppelgangers and Mushroom Men are of the same planet as each other, and possibly the Tentacles as well. But it wouldn't make sense for one of their own weapons to kill some of their kind with one hit. It is possible that one of the alien species in ZAMN is the owner of this weapon, but who? And why do the Spiders, Black Ants and Red Ants die with one hit, as well? =============================================================================== VI. - WEED WHACKER =============================================================================== DESCRIPTION: A dark gray, old-fashioned weed whacker with a spinning, circular, barbed end. BACKSTORY: While it's unusual for Zeke and Julie to find Fire Extinguishers and Alien Bubble Guns lying around the neighborhood, the same cannot be said for Weed Whackers. I mean, it's a garden tool! And in ZAMN, it's a damn good garden tool at that. AMMO APPEARANCE: N/A (the end of the Weed Whacker just spins very quickly) CLIP SIZE: 300 MAXIMUM AMMUNITION: 999 USEFULNESS: 7.9/10 DAMAGE RATING: 6.4/10 SPEED RATING: 10/10 ATK: Zombie: 1 Tentacle: 1 Doppelganger: 1 Mushroom Man: 1 Martian: 1 Spider: 1 Evil Doll: 2 Aflame Doll: 2 Squidman: 2 Mummy: 3 Black Ant: 5 Werewolf: 6 Red Ant: 10 Pod Plant: 13 Jelly Blob: N/A COMMONNESS: Very Common STORAGE ITEM PERCENTAGE: 2% TRIVIA: An interesting thing to note is that so many fans of ZAMN adamantly believe that the Weed Whacker is more powerful than the Tomatoes and Popsicles. This is NOT true. All three weapons are (for the most part) exactly the same in terms of strength. The only difference is that the Weed Whacker is able to deal damage MUCH faster than the Tomatoes or Popsicles, which does make it a better weapon. =============================================================================== VII. - ANCIENT ARTIFACT =============================================================================== DESCRIPTION: A holy white, cross-like, antediluvian relic. BACKSTORY: Luckily, Zeke and Julie live near ancient pyramids and vampire-filled dungeons, so they come across some Ancient Artifacts now and then. AMMO APPEARANCE: When being used, your character holds the Artifact out in front of them while a glowing aura (similar to the blasts released from the Pandora's Boxes) circles you. CLIP SIZE: 30 MAXIMUM AMMUNITION: 999 [theoretically] USEFULNESS: 9.3/10 DAMAGE RATING: 9.9/10 SPEED RATING: 5.2/10 ATK: Zombie: 1 Tentacle: 1 Evil Doll: 1 Aflame Doll: 1 Doppelganger: 1 Mushroom Man: 1 Mummy: 1 Werewolf: 1 Martian: 1 Squidman: 1 Spider: 1 Black Ant: 1 Red Ant: 1 Pod Plant: 2 Jelly Blob: N/A COMMONNESS: Uncommon STORAGE ITEM PERCENTAGE: 2% TRIVIA: Not only is the Ancient Artifact one of the best weapons in the game, it's also the only weapon that grants you near-complete invincibility while using it. Bosses such as the Big Baby can still injure you, but normal enemies and semi-bosses cannot do a thing to you! =============================================================================== VIII. - BAZOOKA =============================================================================== DESCRIPTION: A massive rocket launcher that shoots out Bazooka shells. BACKSTORY: Fortunately, the army has been notified of Dr. Tongue's antics, and several soldiers have been sent to Zeke and Julie's town to fight off the many monsters. Unfortunately, whenever a monster gets close to a soldier the warrior cowers in fear. But that's alright! That leaves his Bazookas for the taking! AMMO APPEARANCE: A huge, gray rocket resembling Bullet Bill. CLIP SIZE: 5 MAXIMUM AMMUNITION: 999 [very theoretically] USEFULNESS: 8.8/10 DAMAGE RATING: 10/10 SPEED RATING: 1/10 ATK: Zombie: 1 Tentacle: 1 Pod Plant: 1 Aflame Doll: 1 Doppelganger: 1 Mushroom Man: 1 Mummy: 1 Werewolf: 1 Martian: 1 Squidman: 1 Spider: 1 Black Ant: 1 Red Ant: 1 Evil Doll: N/A Jelly Blob: N/A COMMONNESS: Common STORAGE ITEM PERCENTAGE: 1% TRIVIA: The Bazooka is the most powerful weapon in the game, its power only fairly rivaled by the Pandora's Box. Unlike every other projectile weapon in the game, the Bazooka's rockets all have infinite range. However, they travel faster than you, so if you ever need to catch up to one for whatever reason, you'll need to use a pair of Speed Shoes, which will make you go as fast as the rockets. =============================================================================== IX. - SODA CANS =============================================================================== DESCRIPTION: A six-pack of red soda cans. Deductively, I assume it to be Coca- Cola. After all, it's been said that Coke really is rather acidic. BACKSTORY: It seems much of Zeke and Julie's neighborhood is obsessed with Soda, as there is much of it to be found in the game. That's fine by me. I love Coca- Cola too! AMMO APPEARANCE: When Soda Cans are used, a single can is thrown outward. This can then hits the ground and explodes in an effervescent show. So, in a sense, the Soda Cans are used as grenades. CLIP SIZE: 20 MAXIMUM AMMUNITION: 999 [theoretically] USEFULNESS: 9/10 DAMAGE RATING: 9.2/10 SPEED RATING: 1.1/10 ATK: Zombie: 1 Tentacle: 1 Evil Doll: 1 Aflame Doll: 1 Doppelganger: 1 Mushroom Man: 1 Mummy: 1 Martian: 1 Squidman: 1 Spider: 1 Werewolf: 2 Black Ant: 2 Red Ant: 4 Pod Plant: 5 Jelly Blob: N/A COMMONNESS: Common STORAGE ITEM PERCENTAGE: 2% TRIVIA: Soda Cans are slow weapons. But there is a trick to using them quickly. If you push against a wall or some other obstruction while throwing the Soda Cans, they will be used much quicker. This trick can also be used with the Ba- zookas (by standing with your back against a wall and shooting the rockets). =============================================================================== X. - TOMATOES =============================================================================== DESCRIPTION: Red, round tomatoes. BACKSTORY: Tomatoes are actually very rare, which is strange considering all of the supermarkets you visit in the game! AMMO APPEARANCE: A simple tomato. CLIP SIZE: 20 MAXIMUM AMMUNITION: 999 [very theoretically] USEFULNESS: 7.8/10 DAMAGE RATING: 6.2/10 SPEED RATING: 1.8/10 ATK: Zombie: 1 Tentacle: 1 Doppelganger: 1 Mushroom Man: 1 Martian: 1 Spider: 1 Evil Doll: 2 Squidman: 2 Mummy: 3 Aflame Doll: 4 Black Ant: 5 Werewolf: 6 Red Ant: 10 Pod Plant: 13 Jelly Blob: N/A COMMONNESS: Very Rare STORAGE ITEM PERCENTAGE: 0.5% TRIVIA: Tomatoes and Popsicles share an interesting trait: they can both be thrown through walls! While the weapons themselves are not very strong, taking advantage of this quality is smart. Don't ignore the Tomatoes and Popsicles be- cause they are rare and not too strong. Use them when you can! Remember, there are even times in Goldeneye when the Klobb is useful! =============================================================================== XI. - POPSICLES =============================================================================== DESCRIPTION: The traditional popsicle (or ice lolly, as Heretic puts it) with yellow, orange and red sections. However, when displayed in the inventory they are only yellow. What gives? BACKSTORY: Another supermarket-related weapon. AMMO APPEARANCE: A popsicle! CLIP SIZE: 20 MAXIMUM AMMUNITION: 999 [very theoretically] USEFULNESS: 8.5/10 DAMAGE RATING: 6.4/10 SPEED RATING: 1.8/10 ATK: Zombie: 1 Tentacle: 1 Doppelganger: 1 Mushroom Man: 1 Jelly Blob: 1 Martian: 1 Spider: 1 Evil Doll: 2 Squidman: 2 Mummy: 3 Aflame Doll: 4 Black Ant: 5 Werewolf: 6 Red Ant: 10 Pod Plant: 13 COMMONNESS: Rare STORAGE ITEM PERCENTAGE: 0.5% TRIVIA: The Popsicle is one of my favorite weapons since it is the only weapon in the entire game that can kill a Jelly Blob with one hit (excluding Pandora's Box). It's also the only weapon (again, excluding Pandora's Box) that can kill every normal enemy. =============================================================================== XII. - DISHES =============================================================================== DESCRIPTION: When a pick-up of Dishes is obtained, there's a stack of three of them. Of course, they are used individually, though. BACKSTORY: Now Zeke and Julie are raiding their neighbors' kitchens! AMMO APPEARANCE: A plate! CLIP SIZE: 20 MAXIMUM AMMUNITION: 999 [again, very theoretically] USEFULNESS: 8.4/10 DAMAGE RATING: 7.5/10 SPEED RATING: 1.8/10 ATK: Zombie: 1 Tentacle: 1 Doppelganger: 1 Mushroom Man: 1 Martian: 1 Spider: 1 Evil Doll: 2 Aflame Doll: 2 Mummy: 2 Squidman: 2 Werewolf: 4 Black Ant: 4 Red Ant: 7 Pod Plant: 9 Jelly Blob: N/A COMMONNESS: Uncommon STORAGE ITEM PERCENTAGE: 0.5% TRIVIA: If you find Dishes you should save them. They are surprisingly useful against Snakeoids and the final showdown with Dr. Tongue, when he is in his Giant Head form. =============================================================================== XIII. - SILVERWARE =============================================================================== DESCRIPTION: A fork and a knife. BACKSTORY: More goods from neighbors' kitchens. AMMO APPEARANCE: A fork and knife is thrown at the same time. There seems to be some kind of force holding the two together while they zoom through the air. Is it the electromagnetic force? The gravitational force? The nuclear forces? Who knows? CLIP SIZE: 20 MAXIMUM AMMUNITION: 999 [again, VERY theoretically] USEFULNESS: 8.8/10 DAMAGE RATING: 8.6/10 SPEED RATING: 1.8/10 ATK: Zombie: 1 Tentacle: 1 Evil Doll: 1 Doppelganger: 1 Mushroom Man: 1 Werewolf: 1 Martian: 1 Squidman: 1 Spider: 1 Aflame Doll: 2 Mummy: 2 Black Ant: 3 Red Ant: 5 Pod Plant: 7 Jelly Blob: N/A COMMONNESS: Very Rare STORAGE ITEM PERCENTAGE: 0.5% TRIVIA: Logically and comically, Silverware can kill a Werewolf with one hit, obviously a reference to the old myth that a silver bullet can kill a werewolf. It's otherwise a powerful weapon, anyway. It's one of the few weapons that can kill an Evil Doll with a single hit. =============================================================================== XIV. - FOOTBALL =============================================================================== DESCRIPTION: A typical, pigskin football. BACKSTORY: These are usually found by football fields, which makes sense, don't you think? AMMO APPEARANCE: A football. CLIP SIZE: 20 MAXIMUM AMMUNITION: 100 [there are only five of them in the game] USEFULNESS: 5.9/10 DAMAGE RATING: 1/10 SPEED RATING: 1.8/10 ATK: Zombie: 1 Tentacle: 1 Doppelganger: 1 Mushroom Man: 1 Martian: 1 Spider: 1 Evil Doll: 4 Squidman: 4 Mummy: 5 Aflame Doll: 9 Black Ant: 10 Werewolf: 11 Red Ant: 20 Pod Plant: 26 Jelly Blob: N/A COMMONNESS: Very Rare STORAGE ITEM PERCENTAGE: 0% TRIVIA: Footballs are essentially used to earn both "Pass Completion" Bonuses. Otherwise, they are pretty bad weapons to use. =============================================================================== XV. - FLAMETHROWER =============================================================================== DESCRIPTION: A weapon akin to the Fire Extinguisher. There is a bluish-purple tank that holds the fuel, and a nozzle for the fire to spray out of attached to the top. BACKSTORY: Zeke and Julie will have to search far and wide to find this baby. AMMO APPEARANCE: Orange puffy clouds. CLIP SIZE: 400 MAXIMUM AMMUNITION: 400 [there's only one in the game] USEFULNESS: 9.2/10 DAMAGE RATING: 9.6/10 SPEED RATING: 9.2/10 ATK: Zombie: 1 Tentacle: 1 Evil Doll: 1 Aflame Doll: 1 Doppelganger: 1 Mushroom Man: 1 Mummy: 1 Werewolf: 1 Martian: 1 Squidman: 1 Spider: 1 Black Ant: 1 Pod Plant: 3 Red Ant: 3 Jelly Blob: N/A COMMONNESS: The Rarest STORAGE ITEM PERCENTAGE: NULL TRIVIA: The Flamethrower is incontrovertibly the greatest secret of all time in Zombies Ate My Neighbors. In Level 22 [Revenge of Dr. Tongue] there is a special Skull Door near the center of the level that you DON'T need to go through, and is actually partially hidden (the path to it, anyway). Thus, you must've grabbed the Skeleton Key in level fifteen or picked one up in a storage area (highly unlikely) in order to open the door. When you eventually DO open the door, you find a Bonus Level Icon inside. Most people assume that's what the door and the Skeleton Key was for. But that wasn't it! You can walk into the wall to your right and move around a bit until you hear a "bleep." Then the Flamethrower is all yours! =============================================================================== XVI. - PANDORA'S BOX =============================================================================== DESCRIPTION: A golden treasure chest. BACKSTORY: Apparently Zeke and Julie learned of Pandora and the myth behind her. If you don't know what I'm talking about, research it. AMMO APPEARANCE: Several golden auras (similar to those that the Ancient Arti- fact makes spin around you). CLIP SIZE: 1 MAXIMUM AMMUNITION: 99 [HIGHLY theoretically] USEFULNESS: 10/10 DAMAGE RATING: 10/10 SPEED RATING: N/A ATK: Zombie: 1 Tentacle: 1 Pod Plant: 1 Evil Doll: 1 Aflame Doll: 1 Doppelganger: 1 Mushroom Man: 1 Mummy: 1 Werewolf: 1 Jelly Blob: 1 Martian: 1 Squidman: 1 Spider: 1 Black Ant: 1 Red Ant: 1 COMMONNESS: Uncommon STORAGE ITEM PERCENTAGE: 1% TRIVIA: Some people do not consider the Pandora's Box to be a weapon because it is listed in the inventory for the Items, and also because they are obtained 1 at a time, like most other items. However, there are others who believe that Pandora's Boxes should have been included it the inventory for the Weapons. Why Pandora's Box was placed in the Items inventory is unimportant. The fact of the matter is that it deals damage directly, so it's a weapon in my book. A DAMN fine weapon at that. Oh, if you would like to have some retrospective if you haven't beaten the game yet: even though the Pandora's Box kills every enemy listed above in 1 hit, it takes FORTY-FIVE of them to defeat the final Giant Spider! =============================================================================== XVII. - "IDENTICAL" WEAPONS =============================================================================== It has occurred to me that several of the weapons in ZAMN are identical in some way or another. The following is a list of some weapons that are very similar to each other in certain respects. EQUAL POWER: Some weapons in ZAMN are equally powerful (or nearly completely equally power- ful) in terms of a single unit of ammo. I have included these weapons below: - Water Gun & Football - Weed Whacker, Tomatoes & Popsicles Dishes and Silverware are NOT close enough in terms of power to be listed here. Silverware is clearly stronger. AMMO: Following is a list of weapons that share the same number of ammunition per clip and how much ammunition that is: - Water Gun & Fire Extinguisher [99] - Soda Cans, Tomatoes, Popsicles, Dishes, Silverware & Footballs [20] Every other weapon is unique in terms of clip size. =============================================================================== XVIII. - WEAPON-SPECIFIC UNIQUE QUALITIES =============================================================================== This topic will deal with uniqueness. Some may consider the information here to be trivial. Most people I know like trivia. So tough! :) INVINCIBILITY: The Ancient Artifact is the only weapon that grants the user almost complete invincibility while in use. INFINITE RANGE: The missiles of Bazookas have infinite range. To keep up with them you'll need some Speed Shoes. NO HEIGHT ISSUES: The Soda Cans are the only weapons that can be thrown over walls, and they are also the only weapons that can destroy the Martian Spaceship. THROUGH THE WALL: Tomatoes and Popsicles are the only weapons that can be thrown through walls. ONE-HIT WONDER: Popsicles are the only weapon that can kill a Jelly Blob with one hit. SILVER... WARE?: Silverware kills Werewolves with one hit not necessarily because they are that powerful, but because they were simply programmed to do so. With nearly every enemy in the game, the Silverware is 1.3 times stronger than Dishes. It takes 4 Dishes to kill Werewolves, but only 1 Silverware, whereas the "numbers" say it should take 3. SUBTLE REFERENCE TO A MOVIE: We all know that several references are made in ZAMN to other movies, mostly of the horror genre. The entire game is practically an allusion. But a not-so-very- blatant reference came to mind awhile ago. The Flamethrower is EXTREMELY useful against the Giant Spider at the end of the game. Perhaps this was a reference to "Arachnophobia," in which the final spider (the general) was fought with, you guessed it, a flamethrower. =============================================================================== XIX. - THE BEST/WORST OVERALL WEAPON =============================================================================== To calculate the best overall weapon, I averaged the ratings for the Usefulness, Damage, and Speed of each weapon. Results are posted below in order of the very worst weapon to the best weapon. Since the Pandora's Box has no real speed, I decided not to include it here. I consider the Pandora's Box to be a "special" weapon and not a "traditional" weapon. Also note that I incorporated ratings of each weapon based on the size of each clip. These ratings did not appear in the guide itself, but took part in determining the following order. I also used ratings based on how rare the weapon is. If it's very common, it got a high score and vice versa. Furthermore, I incorporated ratings dealing with the weapon's practicality (which solely deals with the weapon's N/As) and ratings dealing with how close the weapon forces you to be with an enemy. All of the information should lead to a very fair result. LAST PLACE: Fire Extinguisher [4.254/10] 12TH PLACE: Football [4.301/10] 11TH PLACE: Alien Bubble Gun [5.055/10] 10TH PLACE: Tomato [5.315/10] 9TH PLACE: Popsicle [5.782/10] 8TH PLACE: Silverware [5.801/10] 7TH PLACE: Dishes [6.044/10] 6TH PLACE: Soda Cans [6.244/10] 5TH PLACE: Ancient Artifact [6.265/10] 4TH PLACE: Bazooka [6.666/10] 3RD PLACE: Water Gun [6.848/10] 2ND PLACE: Weed Whacker [7.415/10] FIRST PLACE: Flamethrower [7.547/10] HONORABLE MENTION: Pandora's Box [10/10 Usefulness, 10/10 Damage Rating, other great stats, but no recordable speed] NOTE: It turns out that the Flamethrower is the best weapon in ZAMN, after all. The first version of this guide saw the Weed Whacker earning first place, but I thought of a few more ratings that would make things fairer (dealing with how many enemies can actually be killed by the weapon and also how close the weapon makes you come to an enemy). This boosted the Flamethrower's score to slightly more than the Weed Whacker. You may be surprised to see that the Water Gun is actually the third overall best weapon in the game. Do not deny that just be- cause the weapon is of average power. The Water Gun's all-around stats exceed even those of the Bazooka and Ancient Artifact. Deal with it. Personally, I find it quite fitting that the overall best weapon in the game is the Flamethrower, since it's one of ZAMN's best secrets. If you are a fan of the Weed Whacker, Flamethrower or Water Gun, you now have incontrovertible proof to back you up. The information is in the game. It is now set in stone: the Flame- thrower is the overall best weapon in Zombies Ate My Neighbors! =============================================================================== XX. - MORE STUFF & CONCLUSION =============================================================================== As I promised earlier in the guide, I have included all the percentages of the things you may receive from a storage item (bins, trash cans, etc.). These per- centages were calculated over a wide duration, in which I opened several hundred storage areas in ZAMN. Consider the percentages to be fairly accurate. The per- centages are listed in order of greatest to least. Next to each exact percentage I have listed [in brackets] my guess as to the entity's programmed percentage. NOTHING: 47.8% [50.0%] BOOGEYMAN: 14.9% [15.0%] KEY: 9.01% [10.0%] WATER GUN: 7.44% [7.50%] WEED WHACKER: 2.29% [2.00%] DOLLAR: 2.29% [2.00%] SODA CANS: 2.15% [2.00%] MEDICAL KIT: 2.15% [2.00%] GOLD COINS: 1.72% [1.50%] ANCIENT ARTIFACT: 1.57% [1.50%] BAZOOKA: 1.00% [1.00%] MYSTERY POTION: 1.00% [1.00%] PANDORA'S BOX: 0.86% [1.00%] CLOWN KIT: 0.86% [1.00%] SPEED SHOES: 0.72% [1.00%] MONSTER POTION: 0.72% [1.00%] TOMATO: 0.57% [0.50%] POPSICLE: 0.57% [0.50%] FIRE EXTINGUISHER: 0.43% [0.50%] DISHES: 0.43% [0.50%] SILVERWARE: 0.43% [0.50%] GHOST POTION: 0.43% [0.50%] SKULL KEY: 0.29% [0.25%] NOTE: It is impossible to obtain an Alien Bubble Gun, Football, or Flamethrower from a storage area. Also, I realize that my theorized percentages are not all right, since they add up to a little more than 100%. However, they are somewhere in that range. I am very confident that the 50% and 15% predictions are dead-on, though. -=-=-=-=-= CONCLUSION -=-=-=-=-= If you want to use this guide for any reasons whatsoever, feel free to do so without my permission. I don't really care if you use this, that's why I made it. It would be nice if you gave credit, though. I would like to thank: LucasArts: For making ZAMN, as well as the Super Star Wars trilogy. CJayC: For having the best gaming site on the Internet. Hammerite Heretic: For creating the best walkthrough for ZAMN I've ever seen. The Big Blue: For partially inspiring Heretic to make his guide. Everyone at the ZAMN Message Board: For allowing this game's legacy to live on. YOU: For reading this! I hope you all had a really fun time. I know I did! - LONG LIVE ZOMBIES ATE MY NEIGHBORS -